This invention relates generally to wide area networks, and more particularly to systems and methods for creating test to evaluate web sites hosted by web servers coupled to a TCP/IP protocol network.
The Internet is a robust, Wide Area Network (WAN) of networks which permits communication among computers, networks, and other digital devices which adhere to a standard xe2x80x9cTCP/IPxe2x80x9d protocol. One of the most popular ways of communicating over the Internet is through the World Wide Web (WWW) comprising innumerable xe2x80x9cweb sitesxe2x80x9d, which are hosted on suitable digital processing machines such as personal computers, workstation, servers, etc. Users or xe2x80x9cclientsxe2x80x9d use, for example, their personal computers to communicate with a web site via a browser program or, simply, xe2x80x9cbrowser.xe2x80x9d Currently, the most commonly used browser is the Internet Explorer(trademark) from Microsoft, Inc.
It has become increasingly easy for companies and individuals to create their own web sites. There are a number of commercially available software applications which generate the necessary HTML code to create xe2x80x9cweb pagesxe2x80x9d which can be uploaded to web servers connected to the Internet. There are also web sites that can be used to create content for other web sites. Connections to the Internet and web server hosts are often provided by a company known as an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Since web pages are, essentially, programs written in the HTML language, it is possible that one or more web pages of a web site may contain errors. These errors may only show up intermittently since much of the interaction with the web site can be dynamic, i.e. the interaction can change from session to session. Therefore, a need has arisen for some method to test web sites for errors.
In FIG. 1, a system 10 for testing a web site includes a TCP/IP protocol network, such as the Internet 12, a web server 14 coupled to the Internet 12 by an ISP 16, any number of user or client machines such as client machines 18A, 18B, 18C, etc. coupled to the Internet 12 by ISP""s 20A, 20B, 20C, etc., and a testing computer 22 coupled to the Internet 12 by an ISP 24.
In the prior art, software running on the testing computer 22 connects with a web site 26 hosted by the web server 14 through the Internet 12 and attempts to download web pages. Upon a failure to download a web page, the testing computer 22 running this prior art software detects an error.
It should be noted that the depiction of FIG. 1 is logical in nature, and may be implemented in a variety of fashions. For example, the testing computer 22 and the web server 14 can be the same machine. As another example, any of the client machines 18A, 18B, 18C, etc., or the testing computer 22, or the web server 14 can be connected into the Internet 12 in other fashions, such as into the xe2x80x9cbackbonexe2x80x9d of the Internet. Further the Internet 12 is only one example of a network implementing a TCP/IP protocol. Other examples of TCP/IP protocol networks include Intranets and Extranets, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
The testing computers 22 of the prior art include testing software which simulate browser software to the extent that they can download web pages. The successful downloading of a web page in the prior art was usually considered sufficient to determine that the web page was error free. In some instances, prior art testing computers 22 may examine or xe2x80x9cparsexe2x80x9d the HTML of the downloaded web page to make further determination whether there is an error in the downloaded web page. An example of prior art testing software includes the WhatsUp(trademark) software of IpSwitch, Inc. of Lexington, Mass. This software is capable of testing only a single web page.
Unfortunately, the simple downloading of web pages with, perhaps, a cursory examination of the HTML is often insufficient to determine all the errors that a user might encounter when actually interacting with those web pages. This is due, in part, to the complex interactivity permitted under the HTML standards, and is due, in part, to the fact that many interactions with web pages are xe2x80x9cdynamicxe2x80x9d in that they may change from session to session. It would therefore be desirable to have a method for creating a test for a web site which can test multiple features of web pages, and which can handle dynamic interactions with the web site.
The present invention provides an enterprise portal system and method for testing a web site within a distributed computing system. The invention allows a user to utilize the power of a distributed network while presenting a distributed computer environment in a simplified single interface. The user interface is tailored to the user, either by identifying the user individually, or by association with the user, such as a group or security level, or some other form of classification. This tailoring may be preformed before the first test is preformed, or may be incorporated into the first or latter tests for subsequent use.
A system for testing a web site within a distributed computing system in accordance with the present invention includes a plurality of test computers, a plurality of servers, and a portal. Each test computer includes a processor and a memory and is coupled to a database. Each server is operable to support at least one web site, and each test computer is coupled to at least one server and operable to transmit and receive information from at least one server. The portal is coupled to the test computers and to a portal database. The portal is operable to transmit and receive information from the test computers, and has an interface that allows a user to receive and input data into the portal.
In a preferred embodiment, the test computer is capable of direct HTTP and HTML communication with the servers and the information communicated is test information that relates to the functionality of a web site. The portal is operable to transmit monitor configuration information to the test computers, wherein the test computers then transmit the monitor configuration information to the servers. This allows the functionality of the servers to be controlled by a user through the portal. The portal may also provide the user with the status of a server and a report of server functionality over a period of time.
A method for providing an enterprise portal system in accordance with the present invention provides a plurality of test computers, provides a plurality of servers that are operable to support at least one web site, and provides a portal coupled to the test computers and operable to transmit and receive information from said test computers. Each test computer is coupled to a database and at least one server and is operable to transmit and receive information from at least one said server. The portal has an interface that allows a user to receive and input data.
An advantage of the present invention is that the enterprise portal services is a single interface to the distributed computing system. The distributed computer network may be configured and tested while the distributed nature of the computer system is hidden from the user. The user may take full advantage of the benefits of a distributed computer system without the increased complexity that usually accompanies distributed computing environments